They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 211 Cooperation, Making a Fortune

"But--"

"We shouldn't stand on ceremony."

"Thank you in advance, Sister-in-law Zhichun!"

"Thank you, Zhichun!"

"You're welcome!"

Xu Zhichun wasn't stingy and unwilling to lend to other villagers; the value of borrowed items wasn't apparent until money was spent on them.

Let's just charge two or three coins a day, that's fine.

Xu Zhichun approached Master Qin and Madam Qin.

Looking across the entire Qingshan County, only the Qin family has the ability to handle this matter best.

Xu Zhichun specially invited Mr. Qin and Mrs. Qin to come over.

After all, such a huge object is not easy to move.

The feeling of using someone else's name to carry the banner couldn't be better or more convenient. As soon as he heard that this matter was of concern to Magistrate Lu, Master Qin did not hesitate to bring Madam Qin to his door.

Xu Zhichun cut a handful of heavy rice from his own paddy field and took it home, then mixed the rice bran with the rice.

Seeing is believing, so she decided to personally demonstrate to Mr. and Mrs. Qin.

When Mr. Qin and Mrs. Qin arrived at Xu Zhichun's house, they were just as curious as everyone else when they first saw these two enormous things. They couldn't imagine what these two things were used for.

As expected of a successful big boss, Mr. Qin could not tell or guess what these two things were for, but based on Xu Zhichun's words, he guessed that Xu Zhichun's invitation to him and his wife was probably related to these two behemoths.

"Please speak freely, Madam Xu. I am already quite impatient."

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "Master Qin and Madam Qin are both intelligent people. I don't need to explain. They will understand just by looking at them."

Xu Zhichun personally demonstrated to Mr. and Mrs. Qin how to thresh rice and separate rice from bran using a windmill.

This surreal situation left Mr. and Mrs. Qin speechless.

“This, this, this——”

"So that's how these two things are used? That's amazing! That's incredible!"

Master Qin grabbed the threshed rice stalks and examined them closely, turning them over and over. "Not a single grain is left; they've been threshed cleanly!"

He tossed aside the straw, bent down, and scooped a handful of golden grains from the large, inverted trapezoidal wooden bucket. His eyes gleamed with excitement. "Every grain is intact, not a single one is broken. It's wonderful! It's truly wonderful! Madam Xu, you're amazing! How could you have come up with something so ingenious! This will make harvesting the grain so much easier from now on, hahaha! It will save us so much trouble!"

Especially for families with a lot of fertile land, how many more people would they need to hire to thresh and harvest the grain?

Every autumn harvest season, the whole family worships their ancestors and gods, kowtowing and begging for their blessings, hoping that it will not rain, that it will not rain, so that they can seize every second to thresh and dry the grains.

If there's even a slight delay, who knows if God will suddenly unleash a torrential downpour.

If it rains, that would be a real problem.
With this amazing harvesting tool, you can save a lot of time.

Madam Qin understood as well, and was equally delighted, nodding repeatedly: "Madam Xu, this is truly an excellent product! Our family will definitely buy it."

Mr. Qin: "Yes, yes, yes, buy, buy, buy! We absolutely have to buy this!"

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "Mr. Qin, Mrs. Qin, come and take another look at this windmill."

"Good good!"

"Please come in, Madam Xu."

With the precedent of the threshing machine, Mr. and Mrs. Qin were extremely excited and eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Xu Zhichun operated the machine calmly, first showing the rice and bran mixture to his wife, then pouring the half-basket of mixture into the wooden hopper above the windmill. With one hand, he gently opened the switch, and with the other, he slowly turned the handle. The windmill's blades creaked and turned with the shaft, and grains of snow-white, glistening rice fell like pearls from the sloping outlet below into the basket. The light rice bran was blown by the wind towards the left-side air outlet of the windmill and drifted to the ground.

Mr. and Mrs. Qin's eyes lit up again, and their faces lit up with big smiles.

Surprised and delighted.

"So that's how this windmill is used! What a coincidence!"

"This way, we don't need to bother with winnowing baskets anymore. Look, each grain of rice is so clean."

"Master Qin, Madam Qin, the windmill can not only separate rice bran, but also put dried rice grains in and blow out fine straw and shriveled grains."

"Really?"

"of course!"

"Great, that's even better, hahaha!"

It's important to know that after the harvested rice is dried, not every grain is plump. There are always some small bits of straw that can't be removed even by winnowing, and many shriveled grains also need to be shaken off with a winnowing basket.

Only the clean, plump grains of rice that are finally obtained can be stored in the granary and used to pay taxes.

This is also a very detailed, tedious, and labor-intensive task.

If we have something as wonderful as a windmill, what is there to worry about?
Even a child can easily crank the handle, and plump, clean grains of rice and millet fall down like rain, filling a basket or a load in no time, and that's how it's all done.

Good, that’s great!

Madam Qin couldn't help but grasp Xu Zhichun's hand: "Madam Xu, you are so clever! I don't know how you came up with such a wonderful thing, it's really great! We want both of them, and we want more than one."

"Yes, yes, we absolutely must!"

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "I'm glad that Mr. and Mrs. Qin are satisfied. It's not difficult for you two to want a threshing machine and a windmill. I would like to discuss with you two about doing this business together."

"Do this kind of business?"

"Correct."

"Lord Lu also thinks this is a good idea."

"Please tell me, Madam Xu, how should this business be conducted?"

Master Qin immediately became serious.

He's a shrewd person; there's no need to spell things out too bluntly, he understands immediately.

Lord Lu's approval is equivalent to Lord Lu's support.

Lord Lu's support means that he also has a share in this business.

Not only was Mr. Qin serious, but he was also quite pleased.

That's great news!

Wouldn't that be the same as getting closer to Lord Lu?
A relationship built on shared wealth is closer than anything else, and it can't be bought with any amount of gifts.

Besides, Lord Lu is honest and incorruptible, and he hardly ever accepts gifts. During holidays, he might accept a few local specialties as a token gesture.

Xu Zhichun had already made his plans and explained in detail: "Master Qin has extensive connections, ample capital, and plenty of manpower. This business absolutely needs Master Qin's involvement. There must be many families who need threshing machines and windmills. If Master Qin hires people to manufacture and sell them, I think he could sell quite a few, right?"

Master Qin nodded hurriedly: "Of course, so, this, this means that Madam Xu will give me the blueprints for the threshing machine and the windmill?"

Mr. Qin was somewhat agitated.

Xu Zhichun smiled: "Of course, only Master Qin can do this, so the blueprints will naturally be handed over to Master Qin. The threshing machines and windmills that are made can be sold in our county and several neighboring counties and the provincial capital. These blueprints can also be sold to merchants from afar, and contracts can be signed with them prohibiting them from selling them in our provincial capital and several counties and prefectures near our county. Wouldn't that be another source of income?"

(End of this chapter)